The Circle
by RandomOmens
Summary: Harry will learn about his family and the government of the wizarding world. Then thrust into a tournament he never entered he will seek out innovative ways of conquering the challenges set before him. Starts from Harry's fourth year and goes AU from there. H/Hr. I won't be kind to Ron but I won't bash him either.
1. Chapter 1

This is a story which starts in Harry's fourth year and goes AU from there. My basic premise is that Harry has been left uneducated about some important things in the wizarding world and is actually quite intelligent. He won't ever achieve the general across the board knowledge that Hermione is capable of but what he is good at he will likely exceed her. I'm also going to have some fun with the magic system as Harry revolutionises how they use spells. It will be H/Hr. This story will probably remain as teen because I won't write explicitly about any sexual situations and I will cut away if any fight scenes become too gruesome.

I do not nor have I ever owned Harry Potter or any of the characters within the franchise. Anything you recognise is J.K. Rowling's. Anything that you don't recognise is mine.

"Speech"

'Thoughts'

"_Spells_"

(_)(_)(_)(_)(_)(_)

As the whistle blew and the train began to leave the station, a cacophony erupted at the entrance to the platform. People dived out of the way of the oncoming horde of redheads, a screaming Valkyrie urging her charges onwards, as one by one they leapt onto the slowly moving train. A black haired boy brought up the rear with a girl whose hair seemed to defy gravity in its volume. He quickly swung his trunk onto the train and then working together they heaved up the last trunk on the trolley and clambered onto the train.

Closing the door behind them Harry Potter looked over at Hermione Granger, his friend of nearly three years. "How many books do you have in there? It weighs a ton! You know that we have a library at school right?" He said with a lopsided grin.

A look of hurt found its way onto her face before she saw his face and it was replaced by a cheeky grin. "Well I was worried that Ron would borrow them all and I wouldn't be able to use them."

"Oi!" was Ron's eloquent rejoinder as both Harry and Hermione collapsed into giggles.

When Harry and Hermione had collected themselves, the three of them picked up their trunks and moved down the train in search a free compartment. The rest of the Weasleys had moved off while they had been joking around and they passed by a compartment which contained the twins and Lee Jordan, with their heads together, and one with Ginny and a few of her friends. The looks on the faces of the girls, when they spotted him walking past the door, unsettled Harry. 'Though,' he thought, 'The worst part of it was seeing Ginny looking at me like that.' He had hoped that she would have gotten over her hero worship after spending a chunk of the summer around him but it seemed that it was still going strong. Eventually, they found a compartment with only Neville and a Hufflepuff in their year, who Harry thought was called Susan. He was proved right a moment later when Neville introduced them.

"Hi guys. Would you like to sit with us? Harry, Hermione, Ron. This is Susan. Susan, this is Harry, Hermione and Ron. We were just talking about our holidays. Susan got to go to the Wizengamot with her aunt. Isn't that cool?"

Ron didn't seem to think that was cool at all, but Hermione looked like she was going to come out with about fifty questions for Susan, so Harry quickly slipped his in beforehand. "What's the Wizard Gammon?"

This seemed to bring everyone else in the carriage up short, even Ron sat up in surprise. "What do you mean, what's the Wizengamot? You must have appointed your proxy or they would have sent you an owl about it." Susan said.

"Why would I need a proxy?" Harry asked.

"Because the Transcendent House Potter has a seat on the Wizengamot," put in Neville, the tone of his voice implying that this should have been obvious.

"Wait, the what House Potter?" Harry asked in confusion.

There was another moment's silence, as Susan and Neville exchanged a confused and worried look.

"You should know these things," Neville said, "I'm the heir apparent for the Ancient House Longbottom and Susan is the future Regent of the Ancient House Bones so we've got tutors who have taught us about the wizengamot. We can help you get the basics but it does get quite… well, really complicated, so you should probably get a tutor as well. I'll ask my grandmother if she can find a tutor who isn't fully booked."

Susan pulled out her wand and waved it at the door "_Minus_ _Animadvertius,_" she intoned and the door took on a hazy quality. "It's a privacy spell," she explained as she replaced her wand in its holster. "It's designed to reduce how noticeable something is. It will be easier to explain without constant interruptions." This being said, Neville and Susan started to explain the convoluted and, in some places, ridiculous workings of wizarding law.

Harry spent the rest of the trip talking to Neville and Susan, while Ron just sat and looked out of the window for a while, before leaving the compartment to find someone to talk to. Harry was thankful he had Hermione beside him to ask questions that he hadn't thought to ask. By the end of the trip he had built up a basic understanding of the government and the house system in the wizarding world but he knew he would have to learn a lot more to catch up to those of his peers, for whom seats in the wizengamot awaited. As it turned out, the title 'Transcendent' meant that his house held titles on both sides of the magical/non-magical divide. The Potters were a Noble house on the magical side but neither Neville nor Susan knew what the title on the non-magical side was. An ancient house, was one in which the main line had been magical for ten or more uninterrupted generations. Being a Noble house meant that the Potters were an Ancient house, which held a large amount of land and had at least three 'vassal' houses. One of the vassal houses was, in fact, House Longbottom. It was considered ill manners for a member of a vassal house to talk about house business in public, without first being acknowledged as a vassal. As Harry and Neville had never been together in a situation which couldn't be deemed public, Neville had always been hesitant to ask Harry why he had yet to renew the vows between their houses. The other vassals to House Potter were House Greengrass, House Lovegood and House Clearwater.

The Wizengamot was, when it really came down to it, a cauldron of corruption and pureblood extremism. All laws for the magical community in the United Kingdom had to go through the Wizengamot. All this meant, was that it was almost impossible to get anything changed. The number of bribes that flowed from hand to hand ensured that basically no new legislation could achieve the required seventy percent vote. The only things that regularly got through, were small amendments to previously accepted legislation. Because it was almost impossible to achieve proper reform in any area, the laws had, over time, become so patched up that it was now even easier to find a loop-hole to exploit, than when they first wrote it. A seat on the Wizengamot gave Harry the right to vote on any and all items that came before it, including trials. In addition, because he was of a 'Transcendent House' his vote counted as three, for all matters, and as four when the law was related either primarily or secondarily to the non-magical world. If he wanted to, he could also introduce new items to the Wizengamot and by their own laws they would be required to follow the proper procedure. Unfortunately, he couldn't personally attend the Wizengamot till he was of age, so he would have to appoint a proxy to do so for him, or at least find out and talk to whomever currently held his proxy. The most interesting piece of information however was that House Malfoy had only emigrated from France two hundred years ago, so hadn't lived in the United Kingdom long enough to achieve Ancient status and therefore had no seat on the Wizengamot. The Weasleys were only one generation off having a seat and so, when the eldest child Bill Weasley had a child to carry the family line, he would be able to claim a seat.

When they arrived at Hogsmeade, Harry and Hermione left Neville and Susan to go and find Ron, who was talking with Dean and Seamus. Ron was still a little ticked off about them not talking to him during the train ride but once they had apologised for not including him, he settled down and began talking to Harry about the World Cup. Hermione noticed that Harry was getting tenser and tenser, the closer they got to the school. She cocked her head to one side, which caught his attention. His eyes flashed up to hers as he continued to talk to Ron, without skipping a beat. He made a small gesture and Hermione sat back satisfied. Ron, as usual, hadn't noticed the byplay but it had told her why Harry was so tense. Every year, the feast had been an opportunity for Fate to add a new problem to his ever growing list. First year, it had been the ominous warning about a forbidden corridor; second year it was a crash into the whomping willow and almost being expelled for breaking the statute of security and last year it had been telling the students that they would have to spend their year at school surrounded by soul-sucking daemons, which were unaccountably drawn to the green eyed boy. He was so tense right now, because he was preparing himself for whatever ridiculous thing would come along tonight. Soon the majestic castle came into view, standing proudly against the dark clouds and lit by the hundreds of shining candles that were placed in every window. The carriages rolled to a stop in front of the great castle doors and Harry jumped out to offer Hermione a hand down. As they stepped into the entrance hall, lightning arced across the sky, throwing their shadows before them. Thunder rolled ominously over the mountains and rain lashed down on the grounds. Turning away from the fury of the storm, the trio made their way into the Great Hall.

(_)(_)(_)(_)(_)(_)

I hope you all liked the first chapter. I will continue to write this but I will probably update faster if I get reviews. If you feel like flaming me I can't stop you but if you have something which I can actually improve without changing the entire story I will consider all constructive criticism. I am also looking for a beta for this story so if anyone is interested please message me.


	2. Chapter 2

I don't own Harry Potter.

(_)(_)(_)(_)(_)(_)

The new students had been sorted; the plates cleared and now the first feast of the school year was drawing to a close. The remnants of desert disappeared from the table and now the chatter that filled the great hall quietened as Dumbledore stood to address the student body. He paused for a moment, his twinkling eyes filled with joy at seeing the hall full once more. "Welcome." His voice rose over the earth shaking storm outside and filled the hall with the promise of safety. "Welcome to students new, and old. Welcome to Hogwarts. Today I have a couple of announcements. Firstly, to I am sure the great disappointment of many of you; I must inform you that the quidditch tournament will be cancelled this year."

An angry buzzing filled the hall. On the Gryffindor table Ron was turning the air around himself blue. 'Though,' thought Harry as Hermione admonished Ron for his language, 'the blue might have been caused by the twins.' In fact he thought he noticed one of them replacing his wand in his pocket before they simultaneously broke into long protracted "Nooooooooooooo"s which would have been more amusing had he not felt quite so keenly the loss of the chance to fly.

After the hall had mostly calmed down Dumbledore raised his hand to call their attention back to himself. "The reason for this is that this year Hogwarts will be hosting the first Triwizard tournament in over three hundred years. In a month's time delegations from both the Durmstrang Institute and the Beauxbatons Academy of Magic will arrive at Hogwarts in order to put forward their best and brightest to be chosen as their schools champion. At that time any student that is seventeen or older will be able to put themselves forward to the impartial judge and have a chance of being selected to be the Hogwarts champion." At this point Dumbledore's voice became more serious. His eyes, no longer twinkling, raking across the students making them stop daydreaming about becoming the champion and pay attention. "Eternal glory and a thousand galleon prize await the one who wins the tournament but it will not be easy. Champions will have to face three hard and dangerous tasks and come out victorious each time in order to win."

Harry had to resist the urge to slam his head against the table at the news a dangerous tournament was coming to Hogwarts. He had to wonder whether there was even the slightest possibility he wouldn't be forced to compete. Ron might have looked disappointed about it not being open to under seventeen's but Harry could only think that if it was set up for students of age then he wouldn't have a chance if he ended up in the tournament. The tension in the hall was broken when the doors were thrown open allowing the full volume of the storm to briefly be heard. A gnarled man limped down the centre aisle. Every time he stepped with his left leg a loud thunk echoed around the hall and his left eye span round in his head pointing in all directions and scanning the entire room with an electric blue gaze which was, while not quite as piercing as Dumbledore's, very unsettling. Harry had the slightly distressing feeling that the strangers gaze landed on him more often than anyone else.

Dumbledore quickly recovered himself from the surprise of the sudden intrusion and closed the doors with a wave of his wand. The storm now only background noise once again he welcomed the man advancing towards the head table. "Welcome Alastor." Dumbledore called, once more jovial. "I would now like to introduce to you your new defence against the dark arts teacher, ex-Auror Alastor Moody" There was a smattering of applause across the hall though it quickly died out when it attracted the attention of their new professor's magical eye. Moody nodded to Dumbledore, sat down in the empty seat at the head table and took a swig from his hip flask. "Now," continued Dumbledore," I am sure you are all anxious to get to your beds and sleep after such a wonderful feast. I will just leave you with an announcement from Mr Filch who has asked me to remind you that a list of banned items can be found on the door of his office and that the forbidden forest really if forbidden." At this his eyes lingered on Harry and his friends. "I hope you sleep well and are bright eyed and bushy tailed for the first day of the school term. Prefects if you will just take the first years you are all dismissed." Dumbledore smiled at them before sitting down and beginning a conversation with Professor Moody.

The students began to leave the hall but Harry, Hermione and Ron stayed back to avoid the rush. They would still be able to get to the common room before curfew due to a series of particularly useful shortcuts.

"I can't believe that we aren't allowed to enter the tournament." Ron whined. "Think of the money. Not to mention the glory. None of my brothers could say they'd done that!"

Harry and Hermione glanced at each other and shrugged. Neither of them could understand why Ron would want to be the Hogwarts champion but seeing as he couldn't put himself forward they wouldn't bother trying to convince him it was a bad idea. As Ron began to list all the things he would buy if he had a thousand galleons Harry began to daydream about his bed in Gryffindor tower while Hermione seemed to be inspecting the diner plates. Harry was jolted out of his pleasant daydream by a shriek from Hermione.

"Why would want a house elf? That's slavery. How would you live with yourself knowing that you are forcing an innocent being to do your laundry, cook your food and clean your house?"

"What are you talking about? All that stuff is done by house elves at Hogwarts." Was Ron's reply. He was clearly unprepared for Hermione's reaction to his words.

"They have House elves here? How can Dumbledore condone the enslavement of an entire race of magical beings? I…" Her continued rant was ended decisively by Harry calling her name.

"Hermione! You don't even know if they're enslaved! Why don't you ask Dumbledore why Hogwarts has house elves before you go off on a crusade against something which might not even be happening?" Harry asked. Hermione looked shocked that he had actually interrupted her and looked ready to tear into him until his words reached her brain and she looked down in embarrassment.

"Sorry. I guess I did jump to a conclusion without getting all the facts. I need to find out more about house elves. Do you think the library has anything about them?" Hermione said.

"I'm sure it does." Harry said smiling as she calmed down and began planning the research she was going to be doing on house elves. 'Maybe Dobby will be willing to talk to her' Harry thought as he fondly watched her trying to figure out how to fit the extra research into her pre prepared homework schedule.

The crowd at the doors to the great hall had thinned so the trio stood to leave the hall. They walked out of the doors and made for the main staircase but had barely made it two meters when Draco and his two potatoes headed minions got in their way.

"Think you're smart hiding from us on the train Potter?" Draco drawled in an attempt. "You're a coward just like your mudblood mother and blood traitor father."

Hermione grabbed Harry's arm to prevent him from moving to attack Draco but for once Harry hadn't taken the bait. Since he had been told that the Malfoy family didn't have a seat on the Wizengamot he had been planning for when Malfoy inevitably insulted him or his friends. The spell on the door of their compartment had prevented the usual run in with Draco on the train so Harry had accurately guessed that Draco would try and get back at him at the nearest opportunity.

Controlling his anger Harry forced his voice to remain level as he said, "Insulting a member of a noble house isn't really a smart pastime Malfoy. I would hope that your father at least tried to teach you about politics but it mustn't have sunk into your bleach soaked brain. The fact is that you've made it your goal to threaten and demean three quarters of the people who will one day be on the Wizengamot and one day we'll make a game of seeing who can come up with the best way of making you and your family suffer. I would say we will be kind to your children and not take it out on them but you're so inbred you probably can't have any."

Harry brushed past a stuttering Malfoy followed by his stunned friends. As they reached the downward sloping passage which was a shortcut straight from the second floor to the fourth floor or, when traversed in the opposite direction, from the fourth floor to the sixth they could hear a cry of "When my father hears about this" echo up from the entrance hall.

Walking down the passage Ron found his voice. "Bloody hell mate. That was brilliant." A "Language Ronald" from Hermione did little to dampen his enthusiasm though he did mumble an insincere "Sorry" to appease her. Hermione frowned at him but dropped it.

"Harry I don't think it was a good idea for you to goad him like that. He'll just go to Professor Snape and you'll get in trouble." Hermione put in disapprovingly as they backtracked along the passage.

"Yes but it was fun, and better that than me punching him." He raised an eyebrow at her and she had the decency to blush. They walked through a tapestry at the end of the passage and walked up the steps of a mural, which deposited them right next to the common room, in a companionable silence. Once inside they said their goodnights and climbed the stairs to their dorms and went to bed.

(_)(_)(_)(_)(_)(_)

I hope to maintain a chapter a day but I may fall back to one every other day. Once more, positive reviews and constructive criticism will be well received and flaming will be ignored.


	3. Chapter 3

Hi again. I hope you like the next instalment.

I don't own Harry Potter.

(_)(_)(_)(_)(_)(_)

Harry woke up early. Normally, when this happened at school, he would just lay there and relax listening to the sound of birds outside the window but today that would be impossible due to one rather insistent sensation. A couple of minutes later Harry exited the bath room and looked longingly at his empty bed. However now he was up he might as well get ready for a day of school.

Twenty minutes later a freshly washed and clothed Harry walked past the groaning lumps that were most of his dorm mates waking up and the snoring lump which was Ron and headed down to the common room. Where, unsurprisingly, he found Hermione with her nose in a book. She was sitting in what was commonly known to be both the most comfortable armchair in the room and the unofficial property of their resident book worm. The chair was an old red and gold upholstered overstuffed wing backed armchair with the softest cushions that anyone had ever seen, or sat on. She had taken it as her own in second year when the previous seventh years who had sat in that area were gone and held onto it by staring down any who might try and take it from her. The best part was that, while everyone else was after the chair for the comfort, Hermione only wanted it because it was next to the bookshelf.

"Hi Hermione. What are you reading?" Harry asked while sitting down in the chair opposite.

"I'm trying to find house elves in '1001 magical races' by That Isalot but they don't seem to be in here. I've even tried looking for similar races on the off chance that they have a different name but they don't show up." Hermione ended with a huff and a mild glare at the book in her hands for not giving her the information she wanted. "Anyway," she said, changing the subject, "what's got you up so early?"

"I just couldn't wait to see your radiant face again." Harry gave her his most dashing smile and a kind of seated bow.

"Stop playing around Harry." She replied while trying not to giggle at how over the top he was being. "The real reason please"

"I had a dream about Millicent naked and it was so horrible I couldn't get back to sleep" Harry quipped though instantly regretted it as the mental image made itself known.

Hermione made several sounds of outrage and embarrassment before coming out with "I guess it serves me right for asking."

Shaking his head in an attempt to dislodge the image Harry stood up to go. "Would you like to come down to breakfast with me?" He asked Hermione. She looked torn between continuing her search for information on house elves but accepted that she wasn't going to get any further with her current book and put it on the bookshelf. Seeing that she would be coming with him Harry grinned at her and gave her a hand up from her chair. On the way down they started up a conversation about what their time table would be like.

"With my luck it'll be History and Potions." Harry predicted. "At least I'll get to catch up on the sleep I lost this morning."

"You shouldn't sleep through History. It's important. I don't know how you managed to pass it when you sleep through all the lessons." Hermione said disapprovingly.

"You let me read your notes." Harry said feeling guilty for mooching of Hermione's hard work. "You're right I should pay more attention in History. It might not be interesting but it probably is important."

"Finally you listen." A clearly pleased Hermione said smiling at him.

They continued talking about what they hoped they would be learning first in their classes until they reached the great hall. When they entered they could see that the food was still appearing on the tables. The fruit and cereal was already out but most of the cooked food would only be sent up just before the morning rush so that it was hot when people arrived. At this time there were very few students in the hall though the majority of them were from Ravenclaw. Only Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall were at the head table at the moment. Before sitting down Harry and Hermione went up to the head table and asked for their timetables which they were given by Professor McGonagall.

Before they had even managed to finish filling their bowls of cereal a greasy haired bat swept into the hall and, seeing Harry, strode robe billowing in an extremely impressive fashion down the aisle.

"Potter, you are in so much trouble. Barely back at school before you're showing just how big headed you are. You're no different than your dead beat father." Snape sneered. He seemed to take a large amount of perverted happiness from his next statement. "That will be fifty points from Gryffindor for insulting and threatening Mr Malfoy and a detention tonight."

Unfortunately for Snape he hadn't checked to see who else was in the room after he had seen Harry and McGonagall had seen and heard the entire thing.

"If you saw this happening then why didn't you punish Mr Potter at the time Severus" McGonagall pointedly asked from behind Snape.

Snape jumped and span around. "I was informed of the infraction by Mr Malfoy a few minutes ago." He said trying to maintain his sneer but Professor McGonagall had been his transfiguration teacher when he was a student at Hogwarts and her disapproving gaze and thinned lips still caused him to quiver inside and feel like he had been caught doing something wrong which, more often than not, he had.

"So now you apply punishment on the word of one child without even giving the supposed wrongdoer a chance to defend themselves." McGonagall observed with a hard edge to her voice. The poor excuse for a man before her constantly punished and belittled her cubs and got away with it scot free. She had brought the matter to the headmaster at least once a year and had been given a promise that it would be dealt with but all that happened was that Severus backed off for a few weeks before slipping right back into his old habits. She had finally come to the conclusion that she would have to deal with the bat herself and that started with preventing him from doling out ridiculous punishments for the smallest infractions.

"Mr Crabbe and Mr Goyle have attested to Mr Malfoy's version of events" Snape supplied in an attempt to swing the argument back around into his favour.

"I'm sorry to interrupt but did they also say that Malfoy started our conversation last night by insulting my mother and father?" Harry put in. Surprising both teachers who had forgotten he was there. "I'm sure both Ron and Hermione will be able to back me up on that."

"And what Severus do you think the proper punishment for that should be?" McGonagall ask victoriously.

Unable to bring himself to reduce Slytherin house by fifty points Snape was forced to concede. "Fine, five points from Gryffindor…" The glare that McGonagall sent his way when he trailed off could have cut through steel. "… and five points from Slytherin." He finished. The last few words had Snape looking like he had swallowed a lemon and then followed it up with a grapefruit. Having been thoroughly beaten Snape swept off to the head table to eat his breakfast in a sulk, occasionally throwing dark glances at Harry.

"Thank you Professor." Harry said. It was nice to see that given the chance their head of house would stand up for them as, over the past few years, she hadn't always done so.

"I did nothing but my duty Mr Potter." McGonagall said in a crisp tone though a smile could be seen to be tugging at her lips. "I would hope that in the future that nothing you say to Mr Malfoy will sound anything like an insult." This being said she too left for the head table albeit in a much better mood than her fellow professor.

"Did she just give me permission to insult Malfoy as long as I don't say anything out right?" Harry asked Hermione. Still shocked, that her role model had basically done just that, Hermione could only nod in response.

Moments later the hall began to fill up with students. Harry and Hermione looked for Ron in the crowd but they couldn't see him. They did however see Neville and waved him over. He came over to sit with them and they compared their timetables. Hermione was of course doing one more subject then the other two so had a more full timetable but otherwise they were all the same.

"Oh no." Harry moaned dropping his head into his hands. "Potions in the afternoon. Snape's going to be so bad. Do you think I could get out of it by pretending I'm sick?" There was no chance that Snape would let the events of the morning go by then. In fact having stewed through the day he would probably be even more unbearable than ever.

"That's Professor Snape Harry." Hermione corrected. "I'm sure he won't be that bad." Though, even Hermione with her legendary belief in authority figures couldn't keep the doubt out of her voice.

Five minutes from the end of breakfast Ron sprinted into the hall with only half his shirt tucked in and his tie caught over his right ear. He flopped down at the table between Harry and Neville and grabbed a platter of sausages and began eating them as quickly as possible in order to try and finish breakfast before the food vanished from the table. 'It's a wonder' Harry thought 'that he doesn't choke when he has five sausages in his mouth at once'.

In-between bites of sausage Ron said "Why didn't you wake me Harry? I almost missed breakfast." In order to avoid looking at the half eaten food in his mouth Hermione became very interested in a spot on the table and Harry and Neville looked up at the celling.

For the good of the stomachs of those people close enough to witness Ron's abysmal table manners breakfast was soon over and the supply of food removed. Ron just managed to snag a roll as the food disappeared and ate it as they left the hall for history. Thinking of history Harry hoped that he could manage to stay awake for the entire thing and that maybe if he managed it the universe would give him a break and cause Snape to spontaneously combust or something.

(_)(_)(_)(_)(_)(_)

I hope you liked it. I may not be able to get out another chapter over the next two days but I will definitely on Sunday. Once more I would like to say I welcome positive reviews and constructive criticism but I will ignore flaming.


	4. Chapter 4

Hi again. Here is the next chapter.

I don't own Harry Potter

(_)(_)(_)(_)(_)(_)

Harry had managed to stay awake through the entirety of History and had even taken notes. Then he had, much to his surprise, managed to be the second student in his Charms class to successfully use the charm to make shoes tap-dance; after Hermione of course. However, none of this had seemed to have given the universe reason to help him out, and so Harry was now queuing outside Potions with a feeling of dread tying his stomach in knots. Ron hadn't helped matters as, after Harry had told him of the events of earlier that morning, all he had to say was "You're dead mate."

Malfoy had just opened his mouth, something which never had positive repercussions for the rest of humanity, when the door to the classroom was slammed open and he had to settle for a superior stare and a disdainful sniff at Harry as he walked past him and into the classroom. Harry hesitated but, unwilling to give Snape anything punish him with, entered the dreaded room.

Immediately Harry could tell that the day's lesson was going to be one of the worst potions classes yet and after three years of Snape's teaching that was saying something. Firstly the potion on the board wasn't one of the first five in the book which Harry had checked out for the first lesson so he had no idea what he would have to do to make it. Secondly was the fact that there was a cauldron set up for each student individually which meant that he would have to follow the steps alone even when Snape was insulting him which made it much harder. And, thirdly, was the venomous glare, which promised pain and humiliation, Snape was sending his way. Snape's eyes didn't leave him as he moved to take a cauldron at the back off the room.

"I don't want someone as incompetent as you at the back during this lesson Potter." Snape said. "I think this cauldron would be better for you." He pointed to a cauldron which was at the end of the front row.

Harry reluctantly walked away from Ron and Hermione and up to the front while trying to ignore the jeers of the Slytherins. The sight that greeted him confirmed this lesson asthe worst ever. What was in front of him could only be considered a cauldron in the loosest possible terms. On one side the rim had been bent away from the bowl leaving a gap through which, if he didn't keep it constantly tilted by about ten degrees, his potion would pour. The inside of the bowl was covered in the caked on remains of an unknown potion and had a dent so large it would be nigh on impossible to achieve a smooth stirring motion, which would absolutely guarantee that his potion would go wrong. Harry was sure that whatever the potion they were doing today was, it would require precise movements and would react violently if it came into contact with the stuff on the sides of the bowl.

"Today you will be brewing the Blend of Epäonni also known as the bad luck potion as it causes any who drink it to suffer from continual bad luck for about one and a half days. This is a simple potion that any student in the fourth year should easily be able to complete." Snape sneered. "Of course some of you won't even be able to make something as simple as this." He looked over at the Gryffindor's and most especially at Harry and Neville with his doubt at their ability to make the potion clearly shown on his face. "The instructions are on the board. You have an hour to complete your potion. Begin."

As everyone else went off to get their ingredients, Harry had to lug the cauldron over to the sink to try and remove the potion on the inside. He had put on his dragon skin gloves because he had no idea what the dried mixture was and, when it, upon coming into contact with water, began fizzing, he was quite glad he had. It took him ten minutes to remove all the dried on potion and try and fix the rim and dent with a few reparo's. Though he still wasn't happy to be using it, it wasn't as bad as it was before. Now far behind the rest of the class he had to rush back to his table and go to gather his ingredients. While there was plenty of most of the ingredients the key ones were almost all gone so he didn't have much choice. There were only two of the most important ingredient, a fresh malaclaw venom sack, one of which was completely dried out. He had taken the remaining good venom sack along with the rest of the ingredients and walked back to his cauldron only to trip over something and fall over, dropping all the ingredients onto the floor.

"Ten points from Gryffindor for wasting supplies." Snape said with glee, vanishing the dropped ingredients before Harry could move to pick them up. "I see you haven't started your potion yet. Ten more points from Gryffindor for not following instructions. You're just like your father, he couldn't follow instructions either."

Harry opened his mouth but closed it again, only stopping himself from responding by promising himself that one day he would get Snape back for all the stuff he had done to him. Harry turned around to go and collect more ingredients and came face to face with a smug looking Draco who still had his legs stretched out over the walkway at the front of the classroom. Harry smirked back as, unbeknownst to Draco, during the time he had been watching Harry his cauldron had started to give off green and black sparks. Draco followed his gaze and yelped as he saw the state of his potion. While Draco rushed to save his work Harry quickly gathered his ingredients again and hurried back to his own cauldron to start work on his potion.

Twenty minutes later Harry was sweating over his cauldron, toiling to catch up with the rest of the class. Snape had been hovering around him commenting on every action he made and had almost caused him to lose count on his thirty fourth reverse helix stir. Snape had eventually gotten bored after realising he couldn't easily get a rise out of Harry today and went off to belittle Neville for a while. Harry had just reached the most vital part of the procedure which was lowering the malaclaw venom sack into the potion, while maintaining a constant clockwise stirring motion, one centimetre at a time. As he lowered it the second centimetre Snape's voice issued from behind him.

"You're lowering it too fast." Snape sneered causing Harry to jump and catch his stirrer on the reduced dent. His stirring motion only stopped for half a second but the damage to the potion was done. The liquid quickly hardened and Harry's stirrer was left standing up in the solid potion. "That's a zero for today's lesson Potter. I didn't think you could do it but you managed to mess up that potion even worse than Longbottom over there. I will think of a punishment suitable for such a monumental failure. Until then you can clean out your cauldron."

Harry had to spend the rest of the class chipping his potion out of the cauldron while the Slytherins taunted him and threw their unused ingredients at him. When Harry had turned around to tell them to stop Snape had taken five points for talking without permission and ten points for creating the mess caused by the thrown ingredients. After that he kept his mouth shut and waited the remaining fifteen minutes in silence. During that time both Crabbe's and Goyle's potions exploded, almost simultaneously, resulting in both of them being placed under Madam Pomfrey's tender care.

The brewing time was up and few in the class had achieved potions with the correct appearance: a white potion with black smoke rising from the surface. Only Malfoy and Hermione had managed to have white potions but Draco's smoke was slightly grey.

Snape walked around the room giving criticism to the Gryffindors and praise to the Slytherins. He had spent longer at Draco's station in order to extol the virtues of Draco's potion making and to give him twenty points but was now reaching the back of the classroom. He dismissed Ron's potion before coming to Hermione who was almost vibrating in expectation of the praise she would get for completing the potion so perfectly.

"Miss Granger, you have exceeded yourself. In fact this potion is stronger than normal it will probably last for two whole days rather than one and a half. Would you explain to the class how you achieved this?" Snape said without his usual sneer.

"I lowered the malaclaw venom sack by thirteen millimetres rather than one centimetre each stir." Hermione said with the pride at her achievement ringing in her voice.

"I think I will use your potion I a demonstration. Mr Potter if you would come over here. The homework for the class today will be to write a report on the effects of Blend of Epäonni on Mr Potter here." Snape said with glee.

Snape used a spell to force Harry's mouth open and, while Hermione looked on in horror, forced a spoonful of her potion into his mouth. Harry couldn't feel anything from the potion and had a moment of hope that it wouldn't work but on the way back down the aisle to collect his bag he stubbed his toe twice and when he reached his workstation and grabbed his bag the strap broke forcing him to pick it up from underneath and when he stood up again he knocked his newly cleaned cauldron onto the floor.

"That will be ten points from Gryffindor for damaging school property" Was the last thing Harry heard as he stumbled out of the door with his bag and, tripping over Ron's foot, fell onto the floor in the corridor.

'This will be a long weekend' Though Harry picking himself back up and carefully heading with Ron and a still distraught Hermione to dinner.

(_)(_)(_)(_)(_)(_)

I hope you all liked this. I will probably be able to post a chapter a day for the next few days at least. I still need a beta so if anyone is interested please PM me. I welcome positive reviews and constructive criticism but flamers will be ignored.


	5. Chapter 5

Hi again. I hope you like this chapter.

I don't own Harry Potter

(_)(_)(_)(_)(_)(_)

Harry couldn't think of more ways for his weekend to have gone wrong. When he, Hermione, Ron and Neville had approached the head table at the start of dinner in order to talk to Professor McGonagall about Snape's atrocious actions during their Potions class a myriad of distractions had prevented them from being able to tell her what had happened. Glasses had shattered; the table had given way spilling wine onto Harry's white shirt; and when it had all been cleaned up the Weasley Twins' pockets had exploded when all of the fireworks they had on them went off at the same time. The twins were seen to be only slightly singed as Professor McGonagall dragged them out of the hall by the ear but, one of the stray fireworks had cartwheeled under the table and into Harry's bag which, being filled with dry paper, immediately burst into flames. They had tried to tell other teachers but sudden noises which drowned them out and other unfortunate events prevented them. They had come to the conclusion that it would be impossible to tell anyone until the potion had worn off and temporarily let the matter rest in order to focus on preventing Harry having too many accidents.

Saturday had been worse. He had been woken by the ceiling above his bed falling in and when he had tried to take a shower found that the hot water wouldn't work for him. He then proceeded to be beaten up by the furniture and to fall down the stairs to the dorms. Neville had said he should get a letter about the tutoring from his grandmother that morning but unfortunately the owl had lost the letter in transit so Neville had to write another letter to her so they wouldn't get a reply until at least Sunday morning. Hermione then had then sent Harry along with Ron to walk round the lake in the hope that if he was further away the bad luck effect would be diminished. Harry returned to the castle bitten, bruised, soaking wet and with an allergic reaction to one of the plants that surrounded the lake to find a disappointed Hermione with the news that it was still impossible for her to tell any of the teachers what had happened. When they had gone to the hospital wing Madam Pomfrey had given Harry several potions which it was discovered soon after he had taken them had gone off and added several more unwelcome symptoms to his ever growing list. One eye had puffed up so much he couldn't see through it and he had lost all control of his right arm. Lunch just made his day worse as the fourth year Slytherins all had notebooks out and were loudly comparing notes on his many injuries and accidents during the meal. The only bright side was that this was happening over the weekend instead of during a school day when he would have assuredly lost just shy of enough points to make a new school record.

The rest of Saturday and almost all of Sunday had been the same, but Harry had finally reached the end of his artificially bad luck and, as he tossed a coin several times to check whether his luck had returned, Neville's reply finally found its way to the window of the Gryffindor common room.

"It's from my Gran." Neville said. At the other's insistence he quickly read through the letter. "She says that my tutor has room open just after me on Wednesday evenings so you should come with me to mine this Wednesday to introduce yourself. Gran's already told him that you need a tutor but he's very particular and won't take anyone on without meeting them first."

Harry was thrilled that he would be able to learn more about his family and found himself wondering if there were any books about them in the library. 'If Hermione could hear my thoughts she would have a field day' Harry thought in amusement. "That's brilliant." Was what Harry actually said. "What sort of questions should I expect?"

Neville looked unsure. "I don't know. He always seems to ask different things from different people. The only thing he asked me was if I liked pudding as much as his daughter. I said no but he didn't seem to mind." Neville explained.

"What sort of question is that?" Hermione asked incredulously.

"I don't know," Neville shrugged," but he's the best politics tutor around so people just ignore his eccentricities."

Harry began to ask for more information about the tutor when he was interrupted by Ron's stomach giving out an enormous rumble which caused a nearby first year to look out of the window to see if there was a storm outside. When the other three looked at him Ron looked sheepishly back.

"I'm hungry" He said shrugging his shoulders. This reminded the others of the time and they quickly left their spot by the fire to go to the great hall. On the way down they discussed how they were going to tell Professor McGonagall about what Snape had done to Harry. When they got down to the hall Hermione went up to the front to ask Professor McGonagall if they could talk to her in her office after diner while the three boys saved her a seat next to them. Soon after Hermione returned to the table diner was served and Harry most definitely enjoyed his first proper meal since lunch on Friday and managed to pack away almost as much as Ron.

Once the plates had been cleared and the students had begun to leave the hall McGonagall walked up to them and instructed them to follow her to her office. Once there she turned to them and demanded that they tell her why they had asked to talk to her like this.

"Well it's Snape Professor." Harry began. "In our Friday lesson he made us make an extremely difficult and dangerous potion. It was the Blend of Epäonni."

"I'm afraid that while that potion isn't usually covered until the end of fourth year Professor Snape is well within his rights to have you make that potion. You have to learn how to make it because it is one of the ingredients to liquid luck." McGonagall said. "I don't see why you need to talk to me, nor do I understand why you waited until now to tell me."

"The reason we are here is that at the end of the lesson Professor Snape forced Harry to take a dose of the potion while it was still smoking." Hermione replied. The fact the potion was still smoking important because the blend only cause bad luck if consumed during the ten minute period of time after it had finished brewing before it stopped smoking. "We couldn't tell you before because Harry's bad luck kept preventing us."

McGonagall's face paled and then flushed as she went from confused, to shocked, to outraged, in the course of about three seconds. The stream of profanities that passed her lips would have put a sailor to shame.

"That man has gone too far this time." McGonagall said, her Scottish accent deepening in her anger. "Come with me."

They had to run every few steps to keep up with their Professor as she strode purposefully down the corridors. They soon arrived at the entrance to the headmaster's office and the gargoyle guarding the staircase quickly moved out of McGonagall's way without waiting for the password when it saw how angry she was. She didn't slow down at all as she ascended the stairs and burst into the headmaster's office without bothering to knock.

"I've told you time and time again that Severus isn't fit to teach children and now he has really gone too far." Professor McGonagall spat out, the four students filling into the room behind her.

Dumbledore looked surprised at the sudden intrusion but quickly gathered himself. "I will of course apply an appropriate punishment, but I'm sure that whatever Severus has done isn't as bad as you seem to think." Dumbledore said, trying to pacify his deputy though when he noticed the presence of Harry and his friends he became tenser. "May I ask why Mr Potter and his friends are here?" He asked.

"They are here because Mr Potter is the one who Severus has abused" McGonagall answered. "Severus forced him to drink a dose of active Blend of Epäonni during their lesson on Friday."

Dumbledore immediately became grave. "This is a serious accusation what evidence do you have?"

"Our entire class saw it happen, though the Slytherins probably won't say anything about it if you ask them." Neville said. He quailed slightly when Dumbledore's gaze fell on him. Dumbledore sat in thought for almost a minute.

"In that case I cannot in good conscience allow Mr Potter or any other student to continue to be in class with Severus." Dumbledore said. When McGonagall opened her mouth to demand he did more about the situation Dumbledore held up his hand. "I can't do any more. Technically he is within his rights as the Potions Professor to use students to demonstrate any impermanent potions. Because of this I have no grounds to discipline him officially or to dismiss him from the staff. When his contract needs to renewed during the summer I will not do so but until then all I can do is hire a substitute teacher." Dumbledore looked tiered as he said this and it was the first time Harry had seen him looking like his age.

McGonagall didn't look happy with the situation but accepted that there was nothing that could be done at the moment though that didn't mean she wouldn't give the headmaster a piece of her mind for ignoring her complaints about Snape for so long. She turned to the four students and dismissed them. As the gargoyle stepped back in front of the staircase the raised voice of Professor McGonagall could be heard and it didn't fade from hearing until they turned the corner at the end of the corridor.

(_)(_)(_)(_)(_)(_)

I hope you liked the chapter. Now before you get annoyed about Snape getting of easily please remember that this is a world where casting a spell which brings with it a lifetime stay in Azkaban on children as a teaching aide is perfectly ok. Dumbledore doesn't condone it but he can't really do anything about it. I welcome positive reviews and constructive criticism and will ignore flames.


	6. Chapter 6

Hi again. I'm sorry that this took so long but here it is.

(_)(_)(_)(_)(_)(_)

The next two days, quite unlike the previous two, were filled with happiness. In fact the entire school had seemed to fill up to bursting with good spirits. The festive feeling would have rivalled that of Christmas day, had it not been for the Slytherins gloomy mutterings and glares at Harry, for the dreadful dungeon monster was defeated and those who had once been tortured by him could now celebrate his doom, safe in the knowledge that he could no more punish them for their exuberance than a gnat could hurt an elephant. It was during breakfast on Monday that the announcement by Dumbledore, which had stripped Snape of his power, status and privileges, had been made and the response was so great that the students were given the morning off to enjoy the surprisingly sunny and balmy day and calm down enough to begin work in the afternoon, which was good for Harry as he had been unable to do any homework during the weekend. Flitwick had been forced to move his planned lesson for the third years, on cheering charms, back a week because there was no way of telling whether or not the charm had had any effect and, in Harry's first Divination lesson of the year, Trelawney was so happy that she didn't remember to mention Harry's gruesome eventual death at all.

Hermione had spent her free time in the library searching for information on house elves but had yet to find anything. Harry had spent some time with her in the library but she eventually hustled him out as while he was there he kept distracting her with interesting conversations about the differences between types of elf. They had managed to find out about almost every other variety of elves, except house elves. It turned out that all elves were extremely magically powerful but they each had very specific requirements for them to be able to use their magic. For example, wood elves had to be in a natural area of woodland to be able to use their extensive ability with nature magic and sky elves could only use their magic when in open spaces. Even after the distraction had been removed, Hermione hadn't found anything about house elves. However, with the information she had gathered, she could hypothesise that the house elves required work of some sort to allow them to use their magic. She still wasn't convinced that they weren't being enslaved but the evidence did reduce her worry about their situation.

On Wednesday Harry got to meet his new politics tutor. Xenophilius Lovegood, or Xeno as he preferred to be called, was perhaps the least likely person to be able to teach someone about politics. When Harry met him after Neville's lesson, Xeno had pulled him into a hug, sniffed the top of his head and announced to the wall next to Neville that he would teach Harry. The look Neville gave Harry over Xeno's shoulder before leaving was brimming with amusement and almost screamed 'I told you he was a bit odd'. That a moment later, Xeno released Harry and called out to Neville "What makes you think Mr Potter here is a bit odd Neville?" made the situation that much weirder. The next hour was a rather confusing ordeal for Harry. Half the time was spent talking about ridiculous conspiracy theories and the rest was Xeno explaining why all of the theories were completely plausible despite, or in some cases because of, how crazy they sounded. They then spent half an hour talking about Harry's family to round off the lesson. They ended with Harry promising to talk to Xeno's daughter before the next lesson because Xeno was quite worried about her.

When Harry got back to the common room Hermione had grabbed him and began grilling him on what he had learnt. Harry was happy to tell her, once she ran out of breath and stopped asking questions and actually gave him a chance to answer some of them. Hermione had scoffed at the conspiracy theories when Harry first told them to her but when he started explaining why they could actually be true, she told him that if he couldn't be serious it would be better for him not to answer. Harry supposed that she was denying what he was saying because it didn't fit into a world where those in authority could be trusted with the absolute certainty that she had always thought they could. To be perfectly honest with himself he was quite scared about how unjust the wizarding world was. Muggles were little more than animals under wizarding law; they could be, and were enslaved by some purebloods without any repercussions, as long as the Statute of Secrecy was maintained.

Goblins didn't even have the Statute of Secrecy to protect them and it wasn't unknown for goblin meat to be sold on the black market as it was a delicacy. The meat would be sold openly if it weren't for the possibility of another goblin war. Centaurs were classed by the ministry as creatures and were given no say in how the land they lived on was used. The land on which they were 'allowed' to live on had been reduced time and time again. In recent years the reduction in their land had been halted due to the forbidden forest being part of the school grounds and so out of the ministry's control but pressure was being applied, by a certain toad, for the ministry to pass a new law which would allow them to control the grounds of Hogwarts. None of the members of the wizengamot liked the idea of Hogwarts being controlled by the ministry and so until Umbridge could gather enough dirt on enough people to win the vote the Centaurs would remain safe.

Muggleborns were barely rated above muggles by the ministry and, unless they had a pureblood sponsor, were rarely ever given jobs in the ministry or in the established stores. Most muggleborns ended up leaving the wizarding world in order to try and find work on the non-magical side. This was difficult as the magical education system didn't prepare people for the non-magical system, so anyone who wanted to, had to self-study to catch up seven years of education.

On the brighter side, the Potters were a very highly regarded family in the wizarding community. While most ignored the fact that the Potter's held a barony in the muggle world as well, it had earned them even more respect from those who saw Muggles as real people. They owned about four hundred square miles of land, which had been magically folded out of the normal world rather than just obscured, on the border between England and Wales. Ordinarily, when land was hidden, Muggles were redirected around the area but in the case of the Potter land when a muggle passed through the border they were shifted directly to the other side of the land. On their land they had several farms and a small town as well as an enormous forest, which was the habitat for many different magical and non-magical species.

Harry had also learnt that he would have to meet privately with the Heads of all of the Potter's vassal houses in order to renew the vows. The vows boiled down to an exchange of promises to protect each other and for the vassals to support House Potter in its endeavours. Having vassal houses gave the Potters almost guaranteed support in the Wizengamot because three of their vassal houses also had seats. According to Xeno, the reason Harry hadn't been sent a letter to tell him to appoint a proxy was that Dumbledore held the proxy which had been given to him by Harry's father when they went into hiding. James hadn't wanted to put himself at risk of assassination, when he had a family to live for, so had given Dumbledore his proxy.

The rest of the month had flown by. Harry had, as he promised, spoken to Luna at the first opportunity, which was that Saturday morning. She may have been odd but Harry had quickly warmed to her. Luna had somehow managed to worm her way into Harry's circle of friends by the next week, seeming to have no other friends to hang out with. Harry had been at first worried and then, when the two girls became friends, amused at how easily Luna could get under Hermione's skin with the simplest remarks. Nargles had been a real sticking point. Luna claimed that they encouraged petty thievery and feelings of frustration in those that they infested. Hermione claimed that they were utter rubbish and that if they had existed then there would be a book on them in the library. Harry kept out of it but privately believed that it was entirely possible that they had yet to be properly studied seeing, or rather not seeing, as they were invisible.

Luna and Hermione were currently arguing about creatures once more while they stood outside in the cold waiting for the other schools to arrive.

"Calitropes can't exist Luna," Hermione explained in an exasperated voice. "They break the third law of animation and intuition in magical constructs."

"But, if they don't exist, then how do you explain the way bricks in houses stick together?" Luna asked seemingly genuinely confused. Hermione looked to be on the verge of a minor break down, before she pulled herself together with a few deep breaths.

"Luna…" Hermione began in her 'I'm going to explain to you why you are wrong and you'll thank me for it one day' voice.

"Look!" A voice from the crowd exclaimed, cutting across Hermione.

Just coming around the mountains in the distance was an enormous carriage which was flying through the air, pulled by what looked like winged horses. As the carriage neared the castle it became clear that the things pulling the carriage were only made to look like horses. For one thing they were most definitely made of metal and stone. For another, orange sparks crawled over them, crackling between the joints and fizzing in the hollows where eyes might have been.

"Golems!" Hermione breathed in awe.

The carriage buzzed those gathered outside and swung around to land in front of them. Every step that the horse-like constructs took, once back on the ground, the more sparks escaped to the ground and, when the carriage stopped, the last sparks dissipated and the metal and stone golems became only beautiful statues. The tang of ozone hung in the air and the entire student body shuddered as they felt the powerful magic used dissipate, washing over them, leaving behind an impression of speed and open skies. Silence reigned for several seconds until the door of the carriage opened and a set of stairs descended. The stairs were soon followed by the tallest woman that Harry had ever seen. With her high heels on she was even taller than Hagrid. She was met by Dumbledore as she stepped down. They exchanged kisses and Dumbledore led her over to the space set aside for her students, to the right of the Hogwarts students. She was quickly followed by a line of young women.

While the first few out of the carriage were most assuredly pretty, they were effortlessly eclipsed by the blond who stepped out after them. She possessed a tangible aura of sexuality which reminded Harry of the Quidditch Cup. The effect of her presence on those around him also reminded him of the World Cup. Ron had lunged forward, but due to his focus on the girl hadn't considered trying to move his legs as well as the top of his body and fell flat on his face. Neville's eyes had gone out of focus and his face had gained a goofy grin. Susan, who had been talking to Neville during the wait, elbowed him in the side. Neville lost the grin and gained some focus, though he still seemed a bit distracted. Harry himself felt a pressure on his mind which, with a bit of effort, he pushed aside, forcing whatever it was to flow past him instead. Unbeknownst to Harry, the redirected magic hit an already drooling Malfoy, who promptly fainted, falling face first into Pansy's chest. The resounding slap she gave him would later, when he woke, cause Malfoy to wonder why his face hurt so much.

"Do you think that girl is part veela?" Neville asked Harry.

"I think she might be." Harry said. All the signs were there. The girl was stunningly beautiful and her very presence had turned the brains of almost all the boys', who had hit puberty, to mush.

Further speculation was cut off by a familiar shout of "Look". This time the attention of the students was called to the large grass lawn between the castle entrance and the lake. Not fifty meters from where they stood the ground was rippling and shifting. Soon the rippling grew until the ground was moving in waves. Then, as the ground continued to rise and fall a crow's nest rose, shedding the earth, like water, followed by a ship's mast. A moment later an impossible ship was floating on the lawn, still bobbing slightly. A gang plank was lowered to the ground followed by a lot of serious looking boys. They arranged themselves into two lines at the bottom of the gang plank and crossed their wands to form an arched corridor for their headmaster to enter through. Dumbledore approached the man and led him and his students to their spot, to the left of the Hogwarts students. Dumbledore then strode out in front of the three schools. A quick tap with his wand on his throat and his voice could be easily heard by all the students.

"Before we all head inside for the feast I would like to formally welcome Beauxbatons Academy of Magic and their headmistress, Madam Maxine, and the Durmstrang Institute and their headmaster, Professor Karkaroff," Dumbledore said. Madam Maxine bowed to Dumbledore when she was mentioned and her students curtsied behind her. In the case of Durmstrang the boys bowed, but their Headmaster rudely refused to do more than nod slightly in Dumbledore's direction. Ignoring this slight Dumbledore continued with his address. "I hope that this tournament will give our schools stronger ties to each other and promote friendship with those in other schools. Now, without further ado I think we should move inside as I am sure that our guests are famished after their long journeys."

Harry thought that it was probably a good thing that Dumbledore had cut his speech short at that point, because the girls from Beauxbatons were shivering in the cool October air. Why they hadn't brought warmer clothes, when it was well known that Hogwarts was in Scotland, was a mystery to Harry but, seeing as they hadn't, they really needed to get inside before they all got pneumonia.

There had been a bit of shifting around in the great hall while the new arrivals figured out where they could sit. Ron having mostly recovered from the initial rush of the blonde's allure had tried to attract the attention of Victor Krum, who was a student in the Durmstrang contingent. Unfortunately for Ron, Krum, who had been moving towards the Gryffindor table, was called away by one of his friends to sit at the Slytherin table. The Ravenclaw table ended up playing host to those from Beauxbatons. The feast itself included dishes from their guests' countries. Hermione knew what the French dishes were and suggested a few to Harry. When she had tried to do the same with Ron he had just looked at her as if she was crazy.

"Why would I eat foreign food? Mum says it's all rubbish that'll give you the runs." Ron said without pausing in his eating. The only way his friends understood what he had said was much practice. To anyone else it was an incomprehensible mumble from around a baked potato.

Harry felt a glare on him and looked up at the Head table to see Professor Karkaroff and Snape both looking in his direction. It irked Harry that there was nothing he could do to get rid of Snape legally. They had checked with Susan's aunt and Neville's grandmother but both had told them the same thing. Legally, despite the laws in the muggle UK against what Snape had done, the magical side had no laws against it, and the only people who could remove Snape were the School Board, who were mostly dark-sided purebloods. That hadn't stopped Harry and the Twins coming up with prank after prank to use against the despicable man. So far they had caused him embarrassment at least once a day for the past month. When Hermione had found out, instead of telling them off as they had expected, she had given them several more ideas for pranks and helped them out with some of the most difficult ones. The most recent prank's effects could still be seen. Snape's hair had been covered with a potion which solidified grease and some chunks of hair had broken off during the day. Harry was snapped out of his musings by a tap on his shoulder.

"Could I 'av ze bouillabaisse?" A musical voice, with a French accent, said from right behind Harry causing him to spin around to see the speaker, who turned out to be the girl who might be a veela.

"Sure Miss…"Harry replied. He reached over and grabbed the dish filled with bouillabaisse.

"Fleur Delacour, and you are?" She said moving to take the dish.

"Harry Potter, and I have one thing I want in exchange for this," he said pulling the dish back slightly.

"What do you want?" she asked. She had looked surprised when he told her his name but her demeanour had changed, when he asked for something in exchange, and her question was asked in a rather cold voice.

"I want you to give an extra serving of pudding to that girl over there," Harry said, gesturing with the dish to Luna, who was threading snail shells onto a piece of string.

Looking embarrassed Fleur accepted his terms and took the bouillabaisse back to her spot on the Ravenclaw table. In her embarrassment she had accidently released some of her allure and, next to Harry, Ron fell face first into his plate. The rest of dinner passed quickly with some light conversation about whether Gryffindor's quidditch team could beat Durmstrang's. The conversation had quickly come down to which out of Harry and Krum was the best seeker. Hermione thought it would be Harry, Ron thought it was Krum, and the rest were undecided. Eventually, Dean suggested they ask Krum to face off against Harry in a one on one match, which was met with a lot of enthusiasm. The group had completely ignored Harry's reservations and planned to ask Krum sometime in the next week.

When the food had been cleared from the table Dumbledore stood up to address the hall.

"Now I will reveal the impartial judge which will choose the champions." His voice rolled over the students, grabbing their complete attention. He moved his wand in a complicated pattern and, with a rush of blue flames a wooden cup on a pedestal appeared in front of the Head table. The cup was filled with the same blue flames in which it had appeared. "I present to you the goblet of fire. All those who wish to be champion must place their names into the goblet, on a piece of parchment with their school written on the back. Then, once the time limit has been reached, one champion from each school will be selected. I will warn those who do not meet the age requirement that the cup will be defended, to prevent those not eligible from entering."

The buzz of conversation that filled the hall was great and continued for almost a minute before Dumbledore called for silence.

"Now I do believe curfew is approaching so I shall let you go," Dumbledore said, sitting back down as the Hall emptied.

As Harry left the hall he was blindsided by a small hug-seeking blond, with a new snail shell necklace.

"Thank you for the pudding," Luna said brightly with her face in the crook of Harry's neck.

Once Harry had untangled himself from Luna who had latched onto him with both her arms and legs, he smiled at her.

"No problem Luna."

As Luna walked off humming to herself, Harry heard Ron say "She's loopy," followed by the sharp sound of Hermione's hand meeting the back of Ron's head. They knew Ron didn't really mean most of what he said but it still wasn't nice, and Hermione made a point of punishing Ron every time he said something wrong. Before he moved away from the great hall Harry once more saw the cold flames licking the inside of the goblet, and shivered with the cold feeling it caused in his gut.

(_)(_)(_)(_)(_)(_)

I hope you liked this offering. I've decided that I will write longer chapters on a once a week basis so my next chapter will be out some time next week, and will be of similar length to this one. I would like to say to use a couple of clichés- 'Revenge is a dish best served cold' and 'good things come to those who wait. Believe me, Snape will get his comeuppance eventually. Once more positive reviews and constructive criticism are welcome and I will ignore flames.


	7. Chapter 7

Hi everyone. I hope you like this offering.

(_)(_)(_)(_)(_)(_)

Harry wanted the earth to swallow him whole. He had hoped that his friends had been joking about asking Krum for a match, but it seemed they had been totally serious. They had all gone over to ask Krum during breakfast on Monday.

"Excuse me Mr Krum. We were wondering if…" Hermione said taking the lead as the others seemed a bit tongue-tied in the presence of a celebrity. Why they were tongue-tied, when they were fine with Harry who could claim far greater fame, was difficult to understand.

"Ya, you can have my autograph, but only because you are pretty. Vat iz your name?" Krum said smiling his most winning smile. His face wasn't exactly an oil painting but Hermione hadn't had much experience with flirting and ended up flushed and stammering.

"I-i-it's Hermione, b-b-but we're actually here to ask you if you would like to have a one on one play-off with the Gryffindor seeker to see which of you is the best," Hermione managed to get out.

"Who is this seeker who thinks he iz better dan me?" Krum demanded, his eyes narrowing.

"Harry Potter," Dean chipped in, finding his voice.

"I feel no need to embarrass ze boy by beating him so easily. I am afraid I must decline," Krum said waving them off, giving Hermione one last smile before they left. His smile caused the group of girls which had been following him around since he had left the ship that morning to break into giggles and extravagant sighs.

The group were a bit dejected when they arrived back at the Gryffindor table but Harry had been relived that they had failed to set it up, he hadn't been looking forward to it.

"I guess that means you won't get to know who is better. Such a shame," Harry said in an almost believably sincere voice.

"It's obviously Krum," Ron said. "I just thought it would be cool to see him fly."

"Well at least Hermione thinks I would win," Harry replied. Though he didn't want to play Krum, it was annoying having one of his best friends so sure he would have lost. "Don't you Hermione?"

"Of course," she said. The part of her that had developed a crush on Krum the moment he smiled at her, told her that she was lying. However, she had previously said that Harry would be better and she wasn't going to turn on her friend now.

"Thank you Hermione," Harry said. Then he did something that put Krum out of her mind completely. He gave her his most winning smile.

Hermione's knees grew weak and she only just managed to sit down at the table before they gave way altogether. Somewhere behind her a group of Harry Potter fan girls fainted at the sight. Harry very rarely let himself relax enough to smile like that so she wasn't prepared for just how much force the smile had gained since the last time he had used it. When he smiled like was one of the few times you could feel the power he held and it filled the area around him with a warm, happy feeling.

Not ten seconds after Harry's smile had briefly been unleashed; Krum arrived at their table glowering at Harry. From where he had been sitting Krum had seen the effect that Harry had had on Hermione and hadn't liked it.

"I accept your challenge. I will play you on Saturday," Krum grunted out. He threw another smile at Hermione as he left, but didn't get anything more than a polite smile back.

"Oh come on!" Harry moaned, putting his head in his hands.

Come Saturday, every person in the castle had turned out to watch the face off. Harry had hoped that they wouldn't be allowed to do it but Dumbledore had said it was a brilliant idea and that they could use the quidditch pitch. The rules were simple. Rule one; five snitches would be released onto the pitch and the winner would be the first to catch three. Rule two, no contact was allowed. Fred and George had set up several bets on the match. For some reason no one apart from the twins knew, the odds were in Harry's favour. This just made the payoff for betting on Krum that much higher, so no one had complained.

Harry and Krum squared off against each other at the centre of the pitch. They had already shaken hands and only awaited the starters whistle. Harry had tried to talk to the Bulgarian but the Krum, while not hostile, didn't seem in a talking mood. Madam Hooch released the snitches and though they attempted to follow the flight of at least one of them the little golden balls had soon disappeared. The whistle blew and they both rose into the air on their Firebolts.

"And they're off. This battle of two giants is under way. Who can tell which way this-Merlin's wobbly underarms, Harry's got a snitch!" Lee Jordan, as usual, was commentating. The sound of the familiar voice had focused Harry so when, only six seconds after the whistle, a snitch darted toward him he had effortlessly grabbed it out of the air. The stadium was filled with cheering, the loudest by far coming from the Gryffindor section.

"That may have been a new world record there from the obviously superior seeker Harry Potter," Lee Jordan crowed. "I'd like to see newcomer Victor Krum try and match the awesome skill of our own Mr Potter as I'm sure it'd be hilarious to watch. Ouch! Ok I'm sorry; I was just trying to give Harry a bit of support. Obviously Krum has an enormous amount of skill which was showcased by the beautiful Wronski feint he pulled off at the world cup. The very…"

Harry tuned Lee out as he began to look around for another snitch. Over on the other side of the pitch, Krum was doing the same. It took five more minutes for one of them to find a snitch and, unfortunately for Harry, it was Krum. Krum had suddenly turned on a dime and shot straight up, returning to the search a moment later after capturing the enchanted ball. The crowd cheered wildly, this time lead by the Durmstrang students sitting with the Slytherins.

"And it's one all. I think we should have released more snitches, if they keep this pace up this won't even take half an hour." Lee said through the speakers.

Harry ignored everything going on around him in favour of searching for one of the elusive snitches, occasionally looking over to Krum to see if he had spotted one. They both flew in a methodical manner, trying to cover as much area as possible without straying too far from each other. It seemed they had both been lucky with their first catches, because it was half an hour till any of the other snitches showed themselves. When they did, two of them appeared almost simultaneously. Each choosing the one closest to them Harry and Krum set off. Harry's ducked down into the support structure of the stadium and he was forced to fly in between them as he closed the gap. Half way round the stadium the snitch looped round one of the main supports and flew back the way it had come, forcing Harry to corkscrew through the turn in order to avoid the many beams. The snitch finally made its way back onto the pitch just in time for Krum, who had been following the other snitch through the spectators, to run right into it. The swipe that had missed Krum's own quarry had instead captured Harry's. Not all was lost however, as they both swerved to avoid each other Harry pulled off a perfect loop-the-loop, managing to snag the snitch Krum had been following at the pinnacle of the loop.

"And in an astounding display of nerve the two seekers have managed to each snatch the other seekers snitch," Lee Jordan announced. "It's two all and all to play for. How will they cope with the pressure, because it has all come down to the last catch. So far, they have gone after separate targets but that is no longer an option. This is the one on one action we've all been hoping to see today."

The adrenaline from his flight through the dangerous area under the stands still singing in his veins Harry took to searching with renewed vigour. Not long after he had settled in to his search Krum pulled up beside him.

"You fly vell," Krum said. "I had not thought that you vould be a real challenge but I vas wrong."

"You fly well too," Harry said without stopping his search. "To be honest I didn't want to challenge you, that was Dean's idea, but Hermione thought it was a good idea so here I am."

"Her-my-o-niny, she is the one who asked me yes?" Krum asked carefully.

"Yeah, she's my best friend." Harry replied matter of factly.

They lapsed into silence, and Krum drifted a few meters away. Krum's face was a picture of concentrated thought while he continued to search. It took another half an hour before anything of note happened.

Without warning Krum tipped forward, accelerating into a dive.

"I think Krum has seen the snitch," Lee exclaimed. "But why isn't Harry following?"

The moment Lee said this Krum pulled out of his dive and rose back up, once more looking around the stadium.

"It was a feint!" Lee reported. "It really looked like Krum had seen the snitch, but our Mr Potter wasn't fooled."

When Krum once more reached the level Harry was at Harry smiled at him before going into a dive of his own. A moment and an expletive later, Krum did the same. They had been high above the ground when they had started so the dive was a long one. They appeared as two blurs speeding towards the ground. Krum was desperately trying to gain some ground. Not two meters from the earth they levelled off, following the erratic pattern of the snitch. Krum came neck and neck with Harry soon enough but was surprised to see the look on Harry's face. At the speed they were going, and with the manoeuvres they were doing, he had expected to see absolute concentration similar to what he knew was on his own face. On Harry's face however, was a serene smile as if they were simply coasting along companionably, rather than locked in a battle of ability at a speed probably exceeding one hundred miles an hour. What happened next would ever be one of the most brilliant things Krum had ever seen and one of the most galling.

The snitch which had been flying ahead of them jittered to the left, towards Krum. Krum triumphantly reached out to grasp it only for it to be snatched, by an upside down Harry, millimetres from his fingertips. Somehow Harry had managed to vertically circle him while hanging from his broom with only his legs to guide it, something which at a slower speed was completely plausible but which, at the maximum speed of the Firebolt, was next to impossible.

Pulling up, Harry brandished the captured snitch above his head.

"And, with that unbelievable move, Harry Potter has taken the snitch, and the match. It was a close one but Harry Potter wins three snitches to two," Lee said, trying to be heard above the wave of applause which filled the stadium. From somewhere in the Gryffindor section fireworks flew into the air and exploded into coloured sparks that danced around in the air for a few seconds then the sparks came together into a gigantic lightning bolt and faded away.

While the crowd cheered, though there was a distinct lack of sound from the Slytherin area, Harry landed and approached a gobsmacked Krum.

"Thanks for such a great game Viktor," Harry said holding out his hand.

"It vas my pleasure Harry," Krum said breaking into a smile and shaking the proffered hand. "You vill have to show me how you did that thing at the end. It iz a useful move I think."

They had to cut their conversation short as they were soon swamped by the people flowing onto the field. Soon enough a head of bushy hair obscured Harry's vision as Hermione slamed into Harry. Harry, being used to such events, absorbed the momentum of her hug, managing to keep them both standing. They ended up on the floor a moment later anyway due to Luna adding herself to the hug. Once they were all standing again he patiently waited though the obligatory comments on how dangerous some of the stunts he had pulled were, nodding at the appropriate times. Luna added her own admonishment, though it was related to him not catching the Greater Brown Northing instead of the snitch. After those comments were out of the way, both the girls congratulated him. Having prudently waited for the two girls to finish with Harry, Neville and Susan moved forward to offer their own congratulations. Finally it was Ron who had taken longer to reach Harry than the others because he had stopped by Krum to ask for his autograph.

"That was brilliant mate. I knew you were better than Krum," Ron claimed, either missing or ignoring the incredulous looks he was receiving. He had been the most adamant that Krum was going to win.

"We should get back to the tower," Harry said, probably saving Ron from being knocked on the back of the head. "We wouldn't want to miss the party."

"Bye then," Luna said in a dreamy voice which hid the sadness behind it quite well.

"Aren't you coming to the party Luna?" Harry asked in concern.

"Oh!" She exclaimed, cheering up immediately. "I am. I was just worried that the Guntropes would stop you from bringing me."

"No creature will stop my friends having a good time," Harry said with certainty, and a certain amount amusement.

The party had continued into the early morning of the next day. Luna and Susan had ended up bunking with Hermione because they had missed curfew in the excitement. The three girls spent the next few days giggling every time they looked at the boys, though mostly Harry, for some reason. This was quite out of character for them and it wasn't long before they were back to normal, or in Luna's case, back to abnormal.

When Hermione asked the twins how they got the food for the party they told her they got it from the kitchens but they wouldn't tell her how to find it. It had taken all of twenty seconds before they broke, and told her how to get in to the kitchens. She had gone down with Harry and Ron to see how the elves were treated and had been unable to find fault with their situation. When they had arrived in the kitchen they were met by what seemed like several hundred house elves all dressed and pillowcases which had been stitched with intricate designs which all included name displayed proudly over their chest.

"Students!" One of the elves had called and before they could say anything in reply they had been hustled to a table in the corner which the elves filled in moments with a large amount of food.

"Excuse me…" Hermione had barely been able to open her mouth before she was cut off.

"Master Harry Potter Sir!" A voice called over the bustle of the kitchen.

"Dobby?" Harry asked in surprise. "How have you been? Do you work here now?"

Harry quickly began wishing he hadn't said anything as Dobby had begun to cry and the rest of the kitchen's noise had been replaced by reverent whispering.

"Master Harry Potter Sir is a great wizard to ask how Dobby has been," Dobby chocked out between great heaving sobs.

Harry carefully patted Dobby on the back which only brought forth a second wave of sobbing. Eventually Dobby's sobs stopped and he was only left with a huge smile.

"I'ds told yous he is a great wizard." Dobby announced to the room literally vibrating with energy.

There was a hum of agreement from around the room and suddenly the entire place exploded into even more activity then when they had entered.

"I would like you to meet Hermione and Ron, Dobby," Harry said. "Hermione would like to ask you a few questions, if that's ok with you."

"Dobby is happy to answer the questions of Master Harry Potter Sir's Miss Mione" The excitable elf replied.

Hermione blushed crimson at the mode of address and took a moment to collect order her mind before beginning her questions. While they talked Ron began to work his way through the food on the table.

The answers she got put the last of her worries about the elves to rest. The elves may not have had the same luxuries that the students had but they seemed not only content but deliriously happy with their situation. House elves had a rather odd problem, in that they had a dangerous excess of magic. Without a constant stream of work for them to funnel their magic into they would become oversaturated with magic. Oversaturation would first cause them to act erratically and then if they couldn't find an outlet slowly sicken and die. Hogwarts had an open door policy to elves so any elf in need of an outlet could go there to work. However, it was only a stop gap measure for most elves as they much preferred the work needed to take care of a family and its house. They bonded with the family so as to always know when they were needed. Under normal circumstances they could break the bond whenever they liked, though this was rare, but certain bits of dark magic could be used to prevent them from leaving with the only out being if they were given clothes. Being given clothes was basically them being told that they were no longer wanted which was something that, in most situations, would be a terrible blow to the elf in question.

This brought the conversation round to Winky who Hermione had noticed was lying in in the space between a cupboard and a sink. Dobby sadly told them how Winky had been pining for her family so badly she had neglected to do any work and had developed a form of depression. Harry glanced at Hermione then to Winky then back. She nodded in answer to his silent query.

Harry got up and went over to Winky. He gently lifted her out of the space she was lying in and propped her up against the cupboard. He then crouched down so he could look her in the eyes when he spoke to her.

"Winky, I need to talk to you," Harry said.

"Don't need to talk to Winky. Winky a disgrace," The distraught elf mumbled under her breath refusing to look at him. "No one needs Winky."

"I have a large house somewhere and no house elves," Harry said, "and I want you to be my house elf."

The hope in Winky's eyes had given Harry the patience to convince her he was indeed sincere. Harry had noticed Dobby looking at him with imploring eyes and had offered a place in his household to the hyperactive elf as well. He left the kitchens later, along with a happy Hermione and a still hungry Ron, the new Master of two house elves.

In the weeks after Harry had beaten Krum, and become even more famous in the process, Harry's grades began to climb. Never having been one to revel in the stares of others, he took to hiding out in the library where, in order to avoid boredom, he spent much of his time studying with Hermione. Over time his notes from class had become better, so he had had to rely on Hermione's less and less. Ron, Neville, Susan and Luna kept them company some of the time. Ron really hated being in the library and the others didn't like spending time there much either, so most of the time it was just Harry and Hermione. Draco had tried to start something once but Madam Prince didn't take kindly to him bothering her favourite student, and he ended up with a week of detention. He didn't try anything in the library after that.

Harry couldn't focus for hours at a time like Hermione could, so had to take breaks from study every hour or so. During these breaks he dragged Hermione away from their table, which Hermione had claimed much like the couch in the common room, and out of the library through a secret back door, hidden on page forty two of a tome, entitled 'Life the Universe and Everything', the size of Hagrid, which was the only way into to a small courtyard which had been spelled to have summery weather all throughout the year. Hermione had at first been annoyed with him for interrupting her study, but she soon came to appreciate the time spent with him talking about anything and everything. In addition, being away from her books, even for only a little while, had, much to her surprise, made her work much easier to focus on, freeing up time to pursue a bit more 'light reading'.

They were once more in the library in the afternoon of Harry's least favourite day of the year, Halloween. The horror of the day had been compounded by it falling on a Monday and the odd addition of lasagne to the breakfast menu had done little to improve the situation. After ten minutes of trying, and failing, to ignore Harry's fidgeting, Hermione gave up on the idea that they would be able to study at all and, for the first time, dragged Harry out of the library.

Hermione closed the cover of the book behind her and turned to see Harry looking quizzically at her.

"What?" She asked. "Never been dragged into a secluded place by a girl before?"

"Not to my recollection," Harry replied. "They're all to scared of what you would do to them, if they took me anywhere against my will, to try it."

"Why would they be scared of me?" Hermione said with surprise evident on her face.

"Well just about everyone knows about what you did to Malfoy last year so…" Harry trailed off sniggering at the memory of the punch.

"He deserved that," She said with a bit of smugness.

Harry had nothing to say to that as he totally agreed so they fell into a comfortable silence. Eventually Harry asked Hermione what she was doing in Arithmancy. Arithmancy was similar in many ways to muggle maths but had ways to quantify things like emotions. She had mentioned what homework she had for the class in a chat about a fortnight ago and had been pleasantly surprised when Harry had found the subject quite interesting. It wasn't long before she had him kicking himself for taking Divination instead.

"The lesson was on spell formation," Hermione said. "What you do is…"

She proceeded to explain how you formed an equation with Intent, Wand movement and Vocalisation as the variables. You could then work out what the spell would do and how much power it would have. She then showed Harry the example that they had been shown. It was the equation for Wingardium Leviosa.

"So you see the Intent function allows for the increase in effectiveness of the spell, with increased intent, whereas the Wand Movement and Vocalisation functions describe the spell itself." Hermione finished.

Harry hadn't understood the entire explanation but something about the last statement seemed false. When he looked at the equation Hermione had written on a scrap of parchment he couldn't help but feel that the values created by the functions for Wand Movement and Vocalisation were incorrect and that some of those values should be added to Intent, which was left as an unknown at the end. As had been proved every year at Hogwarts, Harry couldn't leave something that didn't seem right alone and the urge to figure out what was wrong with the equation quickly rose up and took hold. Having totally forgotten about what day it was for the time being, Harry asked Hermione if he could borrow her Arithmancy book for a bit and pulled a happy Hermione back though the book and into the library.

(_)(_)(_)(_)(_)(_)

I hope you liked this. I will be continuing to update once a week. Once more I welcome reviews and constructive criticism and will ignore flames.


	8. Chapter 8

Hi again. I hope you enjoy this.

(_)(_)(_)(_)(_)(_)

For the first time ever, it was Hermione who had to forcibly remove Harry from the Library. Hermione was quite pleased that Harry seemed to have forgotten what day it was, and even happier that he was taking an interest in one of her favourite subjects, but they had a feast to go too and it would not do to miss the Choosing of the Champions. He had become so totally engrossed in the chapter of the Arithmancy book concerning spell construction that it had taken her poking him in the side quite hard to rouse him.

Harry's good mood however, was not to last. They had barely left the Library when Draco Malfoy who had, after almost a month, finally figured out that they would have to pass that way in order to get to dinner, stepped out of a side corridor flanked by his two goons.

"So Potty, you and your mudblood girlfriend off to the feast?" Draco said in what he probably thought was a superior tone, but just sounded as if his nose was stuffed. "I think it's great that Hogwarts has a feast to celebrate the Dark Lord ridding the world of another piece of mudblood scum."

'It is amazing,' Harry thought, from the crest of the rage rising like a tsunami in his mind, 'that he has yet to figure out that Snape can't protect him anymore.'

Though he would probably never realise it, Draco was at that moment spared an incredible amount of pain by two important factors. The first factor was that after the last time Draco had directly confronted him, Harry had planned out his next dressing down of the blond as it had worked so well the first time. The second, and by far the most important factor, was the presence of Hermione's restraining hand on Harry's wand arm, which prevented his instinctive reaction for long enough for Harry to regain some of his self-control.

"I am not sure which of you three is the smartest, or the most handsome," Harry began in a disparaging voice. It was well known to everyone, including Draco, that Crabbe and Goyle were the stupidest and ugliest children in their year and Harry could almost see the insult hit Draco right in his oversized ego.

"But I can't argue with how well suited you are for each other," Harry continued. "It's nice to see that you are brave enough to openly display the fact you are in a three-way relationship."

Harry personally didn't have any problem with homosexuality but he knew that the implication would really get under the bigoted boy's skin. The best bit was that, in any well-adjusted person's mind, there wasn't a problem with being gay so it couldn't be considered an insult.

"When my father hears about this…" Malfoy announced, his face flushing with embarrassment and anger.

"I'm sure he will be very proud to know you are just like him," Harry sneered.

Seething in outrage, Draco drew his wand. The point swung round, trailing crimson sparks, to point at Harry but before he could utter a spell a voice cut through the air.

"Stop right there Mr Malfoy," Professor McGonagall said.

When planning his ambush Draco had forgotten an important detail. The corridor that went past the library was the fastest route from the transfiguration classroom to the great hall, and McGonagall passed through there every day on her way to dinner. She had been passing through when she had heard Draco's opening salvo and had been about to interject when Harry had come in with his response. Now that wands had been drawn she couldn't let it go any further.

"Could you explain to me why you are drawing your wand on your fellow student?" she demanded.

"He insulted me Professor," Draco said piteously, the only outward sign that he was still angry the slight reddening of his cheeks.

"I heard what Mr Potter said to you and it was in no way an insult," McGonagall said, her voice becoming cold as she continued. "However, what you had said to Mr Potter insulted not only Mr Potter's mother, but Miss Granger and this school as well. That will be ten points for your insult, a further ten for each use of the word 'mudblood' and ten points for the insult to the school. Now I suggest you go to the feast."

Malfoy scowled, spun on his heel and headed down the corridor to the Great Hall muttering about how low the standards at Hogwarts had fallen if a pure blood could be punished for putting Half-bloods and Mudbloods in their place. Professor McGonagall frowned at the boy's blatant lack of respect.

"That is another twenty points you have lost for lack of respect and using that dreadful word in my presence again," McGonagall called after him as he rounded the corner, her voice becoming even frostier.

Once Draco was out of sight McGonagall's face softened somewhat. She looked down at Harry, who was carefully watching her face for any sign of her thoughts and at Hermione, who was studying the floor.

"Well done Mr Potter, for refraining from physically hurting Mr Malfoy," she said warmly, shocking both of the Gryffindor fourth years. "I hope you will continue to show such restraint and bring any future incidents to my immediate attention. However, you need to be more careful with your choice of response. I understand why you did it but, by using your implication as an insult, you have prolonged the bigotry that Mr Malfoy subscribes to. I'm taking five points from Gryffindor. Now the feast will begin shortly and I wouldn't like to be forced to remove points from Gryffindor for late arrival."

"Thank you Professor," Harry said.

Harry grabbed Hermione's hand and dragged her towards the hall as quickly as possible without actually running in the halls. It was a good thing he had too because they had barely made it to their seats when Dumbledore stood up to start the feast. Dumbledore first introduced Barty Crouch and Ludo Bagman as the impartial member of the judging panel and the ministry contact for the tournament respectively, before telling everyone to tuck in.

The feast was as always amazing, made even more so by the sheer variety of foods that the house elves had made in order to make their guests feel more at home and the spectacular decorations that festooned the Hall. The tables had been draped in tablecloths which had been embroidered with moving images of ghosts, wizards and witches. A ghost would sneak up on a witch who, in fright, would accidentally turn a wizard into a toad. She would then pick up the toad and kiss it, turning it back into a wizard, who would promptly cast a spell at the ghost, causing it to float away in fear. Then the whole thing would start again. The corners of the room had been turned into pumpkin patches with pumpkins ranging in size from barely an inch across to six foot tall. The candle holders which normally floated over the tables had been replaced with skulls, which would occasionally dive-bomb the students while laughing manically.

After dinner had been eaten and the plates cleared, anticipation began to build. The Goblet of Fire which had been in the entrance hall for the past month had been moved to the front of the Great Hall in preparation for the moment it would choose the Champions.

The Goblet of Fire had been protected by a selective want-me-not ward. A want-me-not ward, as Hermione had explained when Harry had asked, was impossible to circumvent without totally demolishing it. The ward caused the target to become more and more disinclined to enter their names the closer to achieving said aim they were. The twins had provided a perfect example of how it worked with their attempt to enter their names. Their plan had been to form their name slips into paper airplanes and to throw them from outside the circle of runes which formed the ward. They had started off enthusiastic and had then, as they formed the airplanes, become visibly more and more bored with the idea. Eventually they had ripped the pieces of paper up in disgust and walked off. It had about thirty seconds for them to realise what had happened and five days to shut up about it. Towards the end of the week everyone in Gryffindor had become quite bored with the topic, but they had ignored their fellow students' complaints and continued to go on about it. In the end Angelina and Alicia had dragged them out of the room and into a nearby class room, where they threatened to do extremely cringe-worthy things to the twins' crown jewels if they didn't stop. The two boys had come back into the common room shivering and sweating, and hadn't said a word about the incident since.

Now, with the attention of everyone in the room focused on it, the Goblet flared. The low flame which had filled the cup for the past month turned into an inferno, which radiated such an intense cold, the surface of its pedestal began to ice over. An area on the outside of the goblet suddenly burst into flames. As the flames on the outside faded away Dumbledore leaned in to read the words that appeared to have been etched into the Goblet.

"The Champion for Durmstrang," Dumbledore announced to the hall, "is Viktor Krum."

Viktor got up from where he had been sitting, at the Slytherin table, and made his way to the front of the hall to stand beside his Headmaster. Viktor's eyes scanned across the cheering room and he nodded slightly at Harry who had given him a thumbs up.

The hall fell once more into a hushed silence as another area of the Goblet ignited.

"The Champion for Beauxbatons is Fleur Delacour," Dumbledore said.

Fleur gracefully stood up from her place at the Ravenclaw table and walked down the aisle towards the Head table. About half way to the front, something was pressed into her hand by the spacey blond that hung around with Harry. Confused she moved on and came to a halt standing next to Madam Maxime.

It was not long before the Goblet once more burned a name into its side.

To the jubilation of Hufflepuff House the next words out of Dumbledore's mouth were, "The Champion for Hogwarts is Cedric Diggory."

The Great Hall was rocked by the loudest cheers yet as, regardless of house, the students of Hogwarts supported their Champion. Cedric left the Hufflepuff table and proudly took his place next to Dumbledore at the front of the Great Hall. While Cedric's Championship was being announced Fleur had read the note which had been given to her by Luna and then surreptitiously passed it on to Viktor. As Dumbledore stepped forward to address the hall Krum, looking concerned passed the note to Cedric.

"The Champions have been chosen and…" Dumbledore was forced to stop speaking when the Goblet of Fire flared up again.

The cold flames had become more intense but hot red flames had begun to grow from the edges of the cup. The flames fought with each other for dominance, rising up till they almost reached the beams above. The pedestal alternated between frozen and steaming under the influence of the flames. Dumbledore was frantically casting spells at the Goblet to contain the fire and to try and prevent what was happening. The battle went back and forth and there was a moment where the red flames were almost extinguished but then the red flames suddenly grew in ferocity and completely overwhelmed the blue ones. The moment the blue flames were completely gone the side of the Goblet was lit by the devilish fire. Then, their intended purpose achieved, the crimson flames receded and the Hall was left in a stunned silence.

A few seconds later the Goblet, sputtering back alight in its normal icy fire, drew Dumbledore out of his shock and he leaned in to read what was now on the goblet. The cup was only designed to hold three names, so the fourth, which glowed with the light of the embers the red flames had left when they died, overlapped Cedric's and Viktor's. This didn't make the name any less recognisable and it was with a serious visage that Dumbledore straightened up and announced the name to those in the Hall.

"Harry Potter," Dumbledore said gravely, his usual twinkle missing from his eyes.

Harry's mind, much unlike those of most people when faced with a difficult situation with awful consequences, kicked itself into high gear. Someone had forced the Goblet to make him a champion and it probably wasn't for any nice reasons. Most likely this was another plot to kill him. The more pressing problem however, was how to ensure that everyone knew and believed that he hadn't put his name in himself. The necessary first step would be to get himself heard before they could form their own opinions and the best way to do that, would be to openly deny it and refuse to compete right now. His entire thought process took less than a second so it was before anyone could even begin to whisper that he stood and came out with his statement.

"No!" Harry's voice cut through the silence that came in the wake of Dumbledore's proclamation. "I refuse to compete. Firstly, I did not place my name in the goblet. Secondly, I did not cast nor do I, as a fourth year student, have the knowledge required to cast the magic which forced the Goblet to choose my name, or even the magic to avoid the ward placed by Dumbledore. And thirdly, I do not want to be a part of a tournament where the last three contestants all died during the first task!"

"I am afraid that you have no choice Mr Potter," the condescending voice of Barty Crouch said. "The rules are very clear on the point, once chosen a Champion must compete or lose their magic."

Harry's presence expanded out into the Hall cowing those it touched, his temper had already been stretched to its limit once that night and the second time it had broken its bounds. The air grew heavy and breathing difficult. An ethereal wind blew, carrying the sounds of conversation just out of earshot and the light from the candles bent into shapes which defied logic. One of the floating skulls chose that moment to dive bomb Harry and exploded, when it got too close, into fragments of bone which rained down across the hall. Crouch gasped involuntarily as Harry glared at him from amidst his writhing magic. From beside Harry, Hermione made a strangled sound. Abruptly the force withdrew completely and utterly, leaving the Hall feeling empty, despite it being filled to capacity with people.

Harry sent a worried look at Hermione who nodded her head to say that she was ok. He glanced at Ron but the red headed boy refused to even look at him. Shaking his head, he decided to deal with whatever was up with Ron later. He then steeled himself and looked back up at the Head table.

"Fine, I will compete in your tournament," Harry said," but know that nothing you can do can make me win it."

Harry walked down the aisle, ignoring the stares and the whispering which had begun around the hall. He just hoped that at least some of the whispering was on his side. He eventually reached the Head table and stood next to Cedric. He glanced anxiously at the older boy to see how he had reacted to Harry being chosen as well, and received a sympathetic smile instead of the expected scowl. When he looked further down the line to Viktor and Fleur he received the same reaction. His confusion must have shown on his face because Cedric passed him a note. Understanding dawned as he read it.

The note simply said, 'It isn't Harry's fault. Someone just wants to kill him.'

The note had no signature but the way the 'I's had been dotted with radishes told Harry it had come from Luna. Making a note to himself to find out how she had known what would happen, and why she hadn't told him, he slipped the note into his pocket.

"The Champions have been chosen," Dumbledore restarted, "and it is now time for all of you to go to bed. I hope you all sleep well and don't stay up too late celebrating as there are classes tomorrow. Goodnight."

When the Champions made to leave with the rest of the students, Dumbledore motioned for them and their Professors to follow him into the side room at the end of the Hall. As soon as the door closed behind them the questions and complaints started.

"How could zis 'ave 'appened Dumbly-dore?" Madam Maxime said.

"Yes, how could this have happened?" Karkaroff repeated. "This is unacceptable. I demand that Durmstrang be allowed a second competitor as well."

Madam Maxime nodded in agreement to Karkaroff. Neither of them wanted their school to be at a disadvantage. Harry listened in irritation to their continued complaints, which only grew when Crouch informed them that, once the Goblet had chosen, any new names which were added to the Goblet would be disintegrated. The names would not fade from the Goblet until the competition was completed so, until then, no one else could be entered. It wasn't long before Harry's patience with the proceedings wore thin.

"I don't care whether or not the boy entered himself," Karkaroff said. "I only care about the unfair advantage to Hogwarts."

"Did no one listen to what I said back there?" Harry asked. "I quite clearly told you that I would purposefully come last. There is no advantage to Hogwarts!"

Karkaroff's face went a dangerous shade of mauve. The man was unused to being challenged by children and he had a rather short fuse.

"Shut up boy," Karkaroff spat out. "Silence while your betters speak, you cheating little runt."

Karkaroff raised his hand to cuff Harry around the head, but couldn't do it. His wrist had been grabbed in Dumbledore's iron grip at the beginning of his swing. The arguing had ceased instantaneously as a small amount of Dumbledore's magic leaked into the room.

"That is enough," Dumbledore's voice was filled with authority and all those in the room, even the adults, took a step back. "I will not permit you to strike my students for any reason, least of all because something they said displeases you."

Over to the side of the room the door silently opened and Moody sidled into the room while everyone's attention was focused on the Headmaster.

"Now you will hear me speak," Dumbledore said. "One of my students has been forcibly entered into the tournament but has gracefully decided that he will not attempt to win it. I will not accept any more posturing when both of you know full well that, as a fourth year, Mr Potter would be hard pressed to match the efforts of three seventeen year olds, even if he was competing."

Madam Maxime's face turned sheepish as, when the facts were displayed, her arguments became rather petty. Karkaroff, on the other hand, looked like he wanted to add something but a glance at Dumbledore had him holding his tongue. Dumbledore released Karkaroff's wrist slowly.

"Now we shall see what Alastor has found for us," Dumbledore said.

"Dark magic," The grizzled old Auror grunted.

Everyone except Harry and Dumbledore jumped when the man's voice came from behind them. Moody clunked forward out of the shadow he had been standing in, his magical eye spinning around the room. For some reason the eye seemed to land on Harry the least.

"I detected a strong confundus and the remnants of something which I've never seen before, but which has a dark taint all over it," Moody reported. "My theory is that they cast the confundus to weaken the Goblet for long enough for the other spell to do its work."

"Could the boy have done it?" Karkaroff asked.

The glare Moody sent Karkaroff's way made Durmstrang's Headmaster quail.

"Not a chance. It would take an experienced user of the Dark Arts to get that spell to work, judging by how much darkness it left behind," Moody answered. "The only people around with that sort of experience are 'ex' Death Eaters."

Harry had to wonder why Moody looked as hard at Karkaroff as he did when he said that. Dumbledore looked thoughtful for a few moments before rousing himself.

"It is getting late and we have yet to tell the Champions what they need to know," Dumbledore said, a little of his usual cheer returning to his visage. "The first thing you should know is that the Weighing of the Wands will take place of Friday afternoon so please tell whoever is teaching you at that time that you will need to leave early on in your lesson. You will be collected by a teacher and brought to the correct room. The other thing is that the First Task will consist of a test of daring and as such, we will tell you no more. Goodnight."

Taking that as a dismissal, the four Champions left the anteroom and walked into the empty Great Hall. Without all the students, the Halloween decorations were much creepier. Every few seconds a floating skull would hurtle, laughing emptily, down a table. The four of them subconsciously moved slightly closer together as they walked down the centre aisle.

Once they reached the entrance Hall they stopped to say their goodbyes because they would all be going different ways from there.

"Congratulations on becoming Champions," Harry said sincerely.

The other three smiled in response.

"Sorry that you got put in to the tournament as well Harry," Cedric replied.

"I hope you do not get too hurt because I vant to fly with you again sometime," Krum added.

"If all we 'ad to do was fly a broom 'e would 'ave already won," Fleur said with a smile.

Harry took their words as they were meant; as something to make him feel a bit better about the whole thing. Harry hadn't ever really had any contact with Cedric but he knew that many people liked him a lot. Among those people were the Weasley twins, who said the Cedric had helped them prank the Hufflepuff common room once. Cedric had been caught but hadn't handed them in, which put him in the twins' good books.

As for Fleur and Krum, he had spoken to them both a few times when they had stopped by the library to make use of one of the advantages to coming to Hogwarts that year, regardless of whether they became champions or not. All three of them also had something in common which they could all commiserate about, the number of brainless admirers which followed them around all day. It wasn't their only topic of conversation, but talking about ways to lose their stalkers was one of their favourites.

Bidding them all goodnight, Harry made his way up to Gryffindor tower. At this time of night it took longer than normal because some of the shortcuts changed where they went. Because of this it took him twenty minutes, rather than ten, to get up to the seventh floor.

When Harry got to the portrait of the Fat Lady he paused to collect himself before he had to weather whatever reaction to his championship had developed while he was absent. It was a tossup between outrage and celebration. Annoyingly, neither would let him just go to bed. What he found when he gave the password was a room full of sleeping people. They had all been waiting for him to start the party, judging by the butterbeers on the table, and had fallen asleep because he had taken so long. He couldn't see Ron anywhere in the common room which caused him to frown. If Ron wasn't there then he was probably angry at him for becoming a Champion.

Harry slowly picked his way through the sleeping people until he reached Hermione's chair. She was curled up in the chair asleep, her arms wrapped around what appeared to be a Triwizard Tournament rule book. Smiling, Harry drew her hair away from her face so it wouldn't tickle her nose and wake her. Then he very quietly called for Dobby and Winky, who appeared just as quietly.

He asked them to put the students to bed and the two elves began to pop the students up to their beds. Harry waited until the last of the students had been moved before tiredly climbing the staircase to his dorm, with the intention to fall straight into bed. This was not to be as, when he entered the room, he came face to face with the only other Gryffindor still awake, a furious Ron.

"You just had to do it, didn't you?" Ron hissed. "You couldn't even tell your best mate how to get his name in the Goblet as well."

"Ron," Harry sighed. "I didn't put my name in, someone just happens to want me dead again this year."

"Listen to poor Harry," Ron mocked. "Someone wants me dead. You might be able to fool everyone else but not me."

"Fine Ron," Harry said in a resigned voice. "Believe what you want."

Ron, still fuming, pulled his curtains closed.

With another sigh Harry pulled open his own curtains and immediately gave in to the urge to 'face palm', for there in his bed asleep hugging his pillow was Hermione. The book she had been holding lay by her side and he put it on his side table before calling deciding to call for Dobby.

"Dobby," Harry called, waiting a moment for the elf to appear. "Why didn't you put Hermione in her own bed?"

"I puts Master Harry Potter Sir's Miss Mione in Master Harry Potter Sir's bed," Dobby said fearfully. "Dids I do wrong Master?"

"You didn't do anything wrong Dobby," Harry said before Dobby could try and bludgeon himself with anything, "but I think you should put Hermione in her own bed."

The elf quickly popped away with the sleeping girl to do just that. Once the elf was gone Harry groaned when he realised that Hermione had taken his pillow with her. Deciding he was too tired to try and do anything about it, he quickly changed into his pyjamas and crawled into bed. His head had barely hit the mattress before he fell fast asleep.

(_)(_)(_)(_)(_)(_)

I hope that you all liked this one. Positive reviews and constructive criticism are, as always, appreciated. Flames will be ignored.


End file.
